Through the Loop
by papaya101
Summary: Based on the books but you don't have to have read them. Just know there is an uncontacted peculiar Jacob rescues called Noor introduced at the end of book 4. When Jacob and Noor find themselves plummeting back in time, they make new friends, abandon the old, and even the discover the origins of peculiarities and the TRUE origin of hollows. No slash.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N Hi this is our first fanfiction ever. This is a collaboration. We hope you like it but don't judge too much because it is our first. This is set place at the end of A map of Days, although we have both read The Conference of the Birds. Merlin- mid season 3 presumably. We will update at least every week. Probably from school. **_

_**Disclaimer: Ransom Riggs and BBC stole our rights to Merlin and Miss Peregrine's. Blame them. All evidence that it was once ours is destroyed**_

**Jacob's POV:**

'Do you trust me?' I asked.

'Hell, no.'

'We can work on that,' I laughed and held out my hand. She took it.

We could hear Leo's men shouting from below. We stared at the window for a split second. And then jumped.

I could hear the wind roaring in my ears and shut my eyes, bracing myself for the impact on the long grass. But we didn't seem to stop. I could hear Noor screaming; I realized I was too. The world was spinning at an intense rate and my skull seemed to be crushed from all directions. The feeling seemed vaguely familiar. This could only mean one thing. We were entering a loop. But not like any loop I knew.

We landed with a dull thud next each other. My head ached and there was a persistent throbbing at the back of my skull.

'Uh oh...' I said, rubbing the back of my neck to ease the pain.

'What... "uh oh"?' Noor asked. It was clearly her first time, as she was clutching her forehead in agony, although the sensation was, for some reason, different for me as well.

'We're in a loop,' I replied.

A forest encircled us. It was thick and dense with trees taller than I had ever seen. The canopy practically shielded us from any form of light possible, apart from Noor, who was practically glowing. But even in her comforting light, the forest held an unnatural gloom.

Noor looked at me, 'that was the plan, right?'

'Um, actually the plan was more run to some remote corner of the world... And then make a plan.' I laughed nervously, 'I have no idea how we got here. It shouldn't have been possible.'

'Well, we've succeeded in reaching a remote corner of the world.'

Her hand reached for mine and we both laughed quietly. It wasn't a genuine laugh, but at least it was a start. I think we were both melting down inside.

**A/N _We will update ASAP. Sorry this chapter was so short._**

**_NEXT: They meet Merlin and Arthur! :) _**


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N We forgot to tell you this, but the fanfiction is based on the books and Noor is a character introduced at the end of the 4th book(Map of days.) Here is the next chapter, enjoy!**_

I studied her worried face. Her eyebrows were knit together and her forehead was creased, but she still looked pretty. I hadn't realized how pretty (we'd been too busy running for our lives, but now I realised, Noor was beautiful. Her straight black hair ran right past her shoulders,framing her slender face. She had dark coal eyelashes and amber eyes that seemed to glow with intelligence.)

'Uh... Jacob, why are you... staring at me?'

So I was staring at her. God I'm such an idiot. 'I was? I'm sorry... I was just...'

I couldn't help but look at her again. Her black top was bloodstained and her jeans were unintentionally ripped. She had a large cut on her forehead and her whole body was grimy but despite that-

'You're still... staring at me...'

'You look beautiful.' Shoot. Had I just said that aloud? 'I mean, I mean nice... sort of nice. Not beautiful- at all. In fact the only reason I said that was because well... this is the first time I'd looked at you... So you know...' Noor's right eyebrow rose up- quite high,'I mean, you don't look nice at all. Actually sorry- you do look nice... like an average human being nice, you know normal nice...ish. Yeah...'

'If I'd timed that, I'd say it was 60 seconds... give or take.'

'Timed what?'

'Your soliloquy,' she said in a teasing voice. I just blushed.

Suddenly we heard the clop of horse feet and the sound of two people arguing. Before I could even comprehend what was going on a man had appeared out of the thicket and pinned me against a tree with a sword at my throat. Fear coursed through me. And... something else? It reminded me strangely of the first time I met Emma and there was a strange tug at my heart which I felt compelled to ignore.

The man sat on horseback. He had blonde hair and narrowed eyes, but I couldn't help but look at his chain mail; it looked like the stuff you saw in museums. What time period were we in exactly?

'Who are you and from where do you hail?' he asked.

'I'm um... Jacob Portman. And this is... Noor. We got lost and...'

'Bandits.' Noor said helpfully. 'Bandits stole our belongings.'

The man rose an eyebrow. We just glanced at each other. Wherever we were, at least we had each other


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N Hey again. Here is the next chapter, hope you enjoy. We're sorry you didn't get to see Merlin in the last chapter but he'll be in this one. We spent five minutes discussing our author's note and not writing it, so now we have about five minutes before period 4. My friend is irritated at me for giving away info. Sorry, guys I can't tell you any more. Jacob and Emma break up by the way (in book 4) Right, onto the story. **_

'By the way, does the word peculiar mean anything to you?' I asked.

Looking back, it was about the stupidest I could have said. But it did little damage. I stood compressed between tree bark and a sword. I was pretty skilled with a sword. My grandfather had forced me do take part in fencing and martial arts. I had never really understood why, until I met the peculiar children.

'Yes. You are the most peculiar beings I have ever had the misfortune to meet and if you do not explain where you come from you will soon be at the mercy if the king. _My father...'_

The point of the sword dug deeper into my throat. I was scared he would draw blood. 'We're not from around here. We were brought here using... errrrr, magic, I guess? The words were out of my mouth before I could halt them. Magic? Where had that come from? Peculiars weren't magic.

I spied a flash of anger in the man's eyes. 'Are you sorcerers?' he spat with venom.

'An _evil _sorcer sent us here,' said Noor quickly, 'using magic. We, umm, we, we aren't magic, of course,' she gave a nervous laugh, ' now, unless you've heard of Christopher Columbus or America - or India - I doubt you'll know where we're from. Now, where are we exactly?'

The man shook his head, 'you wear strange attire. You speak in a strange tongue, or rather, way. How can we trust you?'

I realised something. Two things. One. The man spoke in a British accent. How had I not noticed? Then I decided it was because there was a sword at my throat. Or then again I'd spent so much time around my British friends that I guess I had grown accustomed to the way of speech. The second thing I noticed was the man had asked 'how can we trust you'. We. Not I. 'Are we in... Britannia?' I asked.

'You mean Albion. And you didn't answer my question. How _can _we trust you?'

'You can't,' said Noor simply, 'but at least provide us with a room for the night somewhere. If we wanted to decieve you, surely we would wear something more... subtle. But we're not from around here. Who are you?

The man jumped off his horse, 'Prince Arthur of Camelot,' he said, momentarily turning his sword to Noor, before sheathing it.

'And I'm Merlin,' said a boy, emerging from the undergrowth and grinning. He looked older than me but younger thsn Prince Arthur. And he wore a muddied, scratchy-looking shirt, a brown coat and faded red neckerchief. He looked about three or four years older than me, but his eyes were full of sadness. It was as if they knew was coming and didn't like it. He had an aura of wisdom, too, but he seemed caught between a thousand years and two decades. Well, that explained the 'we', I supposed.

_**A/N DUN DUN DUUUUUN! This took me forever to type up! Somebody is probably going to complain about my unecessary overdramatic author's notes (sorry papaya) IT'S SO DIFFICULT TO TYPE ON THIS ANCIENT IPAD! Anyway, so I finished typing this from my phone at home. I hope you don't mind the edits papaya. For period 4, we had la geografía (sorry, doing Spanish hw) and we just had an hour's boring discussion on superpower countries and STUFF. It was dull and fun at the same time. Yeah. The chapter will grow LONGER and LONGER as we progress, sorry that right now they are so painfully short and I apologise for any spelling mistakes. Right, I am Merlyn, my co-writer is papaya and two other friends are the shah of mikky and shrimpy. **_

_**Next: They have an unexpected visitor... (and we have something hilarious planned when they get INTO Camelot btw, though that may be a while...)**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N hiya, gonna try and make this as long as possible. So, incase you haven't guessed, we plan to ship Jacob and Noor (Joor?) or maybe just friendship. I leave the romance mainly to papaya because I am terrible at it and it makes me cringe. I suppose we need to work on character development of the two as their personalities are currently rather vague. We are both also Indian and British so it's kinda nice to see representation in American books (Noor is Indian). I will not reveal our age. :) Also, Noor has the power to control light - her peculiarity. She is also an uncontacted peculiar recently rescued by Jacob. **_

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'Yes, I know who you are,' said Arthur irritably.

Merlin frowned, 'but they don't.'

'You know, sometimes I think you forget that you are a servant and I am perfectly capable of introducing you myself.'

'No, I don't think you are.'

'Shut up, _Mer_lin!'

'Oh, well that's not very nice, is it? Ever time-'

'Merlin?'

'Shut up now?'

'You guessed it. But this time I'm serious. Do you hear that?'

I listened. It was eerily quiet. Silence. No birds, nothing. I felt a sharp jab of pain in my stomach.

'I don't hear anything.'

'Merlin, that's precisely the point.'

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**Noor's POV**

Jacob went unusually pale. Like deathly white.

'Hollow,' he rasped.

I looked up at him and asked, 'is it close?'

He nodded, looking both terrified and confused.

'It followed us? How?'

He seemed almost half on the verge of a seizure. I could see from his eyes and his small frown he was just as confused as I.

'What are you two discussing?' Prince Arthur asked us, reaching to draw his sword from its sheath.

Jacob took a deep breath and looked firmly up at Prince Arthur and Merlin, 'Run. We need to get an open space,' he turned to me, 'you too.'

Before I could say anything more, a nearby tree was uprooted by... well, nothing. So this was a hollow. I was well and truly terrified.

'run!' he hissed to me. At this point, I didn't even answer, just grabbed him and bolted.

We had just begun running when somebody grasped my hand and hoisted me up onto a horse. Prince Arthur's beautiful chesnut horse.

'Horses are a faster mode of transport, you know,' he said casually before turning to Jacob, 'I'll get you to that open space. You alright?'

'Fine,' Jacob answered, Regaining strength, 'the hollows have an effect on me, especially these ones and particularly after have just travelled back in time.'

Luckily for us, Arthur didn't hear him. I punched Jacob lightly for his carelessness but asked, 'what are you gonna do in that open space?'

'Contol it where it can't hide from me,' He whispered determinedly, looking like a totally different person now. Brave, though I still see clear flickers of self doubt in his eyes. He was still Jake, the person who had saved my life multiple times, and so I was worried for him. The hollow lumbered after us. 'You can control them?' I asked, a tiny bit too loud. I cursed myself.

Arthur whipped hid head around, 'control wha-' he was cut off by a gutteral roar and yanked into the air. I saw him smash against a tree and fall unconscious.

'What the-' before I could finish the horse flung us off its back and began galloping at full speed when it too rose in the air and was flung carelessly down. It staggered to its feet in a strange horse-like way and bolted out of here. I could now see flecks of blood on the hollow, both its own and that of the horse hiving the monster a vague outline. i wished it hadn't. The sight was utterly terrifying. suddenly, the entirity of the situation hit me like a tidal wave. There was every chance we could die.

I looped my arms around Jacob and hugged him for dear life, half expecting to br lifted up and killed at any moment. But then it came to me. Half embarrassed at my actions, I unlatched my arms from around him and stared at the bloody outline. And I sneezed. Or coughed. Whatever you'd like to call it. A burst of bright blinding light shot up towards the hollow.

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**_A/N so I'm just saying papya is still on season 1 of Merlin. Unfortunately. I may have been constantly bugging her to watch it. The shah of mikky has even longer to go, but she had exams. I am CRAZY obsessed with both two series, especially Merlin, which, yes, I finally finished. So. Hollow attack. Do you wonder how it is possible? You shall find out, though not at all soon. Papaya also likes dr who btw. This chapter was also short because this just seemed like a perfect chapter ending, therefore, I'm gonna post thr next one now too. it takesforever to copy this up from my phone._**

**_Next: Hollow attack continued..._**


	5. Chapter 5

**Jacob's POV**

Gosh, she was brave (and clever) but even a burst of light as powerful as that could only just blind the hollow.

There was another sharp twinge in my belly. The hollow was angry and hurt, which made it twice as lethal.

'Noor... stay right here, and please listen to me thid time, the hollow's been angered and that makes it dangerous.'

She nodded weakly, a little tired from exerting her peculiarity.

I moved forward and scrutinzed the hollow. The was the first chance I'd had to have a look at it. Boy, the creature wad ugly, but also different from any other hollow I had seen before. It was deformed, way smaller the smallest hollow I'd ever seen (thankfully), but it had more tongues. I didn't think I could tame it, but I had to try.

'Go away,' I said... in English. Not a good start.

'Listen to me!' I yelled, waving my hands like a maniac, trying my best to get the hollow's attention. Still English.

The hollow turned away from me, seemingly losing interest. It looked directly at Noor, the one who had temporarily blinded it. It seemed curious.

'WATCH OUT!' I shouted, but thr attempt was fruitless. Noor could probably only see a strange blur of red. Right in front of me, the hollow lassoed one of its tongues around her waist and hoisted her into the air. I was very ready to drive a dagger through its heart.

'Put her down now!' I spat, feeling so very vicious and helpless that every word came out in pure, clear hollowspeak. The hollow feigned deafness. how was it not submitting to me?

'Put-her-down,' I said, pacing towards the hollow in blind anger.

The hollow turned to stare at me, bored (I coulf have sworn it yawned) ,'why?'

Had it just spoken back to me? Had that good-for-nothing hollow just spoken back to me?

'I swear, if you lay a hand on her-'

'How come you speak our tongue, human?'

'Just give her her-'

'Magical, I guess. Those good for nothing sorcerers. But you smell... different. Hm, anyway shut up and let me eat you girlfriend.'

'She's not my-'

At that moment, there was an almightly crack as an enourmous branch tumbled onto thr hollow, narrowly missing Noor. She fell to the ground. That was crazy lucky.

I breathed a sigh of relief quickly followed by horror. She was hurt. I rushed to her side and examined her, my brow creased with worry. I was alright. The wound was superficial. It could be healed with a few bandages.

My gaze fell onto the unconscious Arthur. He was worse off than Noor, but if he was prince, he would be well treated and fine without us, although whether we would would be was another question. If he had been telling the truth, we were to br executed.

I frowned. The hollow had called me a sorcerer. I was jsut peculiar. Did magic exist in this strange world? I started to suspect we hadn't just entered some random loop.

I looked up. The servant, Merlin, sat terrified up a tree.

'It's alright,' I said, 'the thing's dead, or rather, almost dead,' I could feel the life force of thr hollow slowly melting away, but it wasn't too hard to stop muself from pitying it, 'you can come down now.'

Goodness, he must have bren frightened out of his mind. I certainly would have been. But then, if sorcerers existed in this world, maybe magical beasts did as well. I lifted Noor up with some difficulty and placed her gently on the remaining horse. I was tempted to give her a comforting hug, but refrained. She was hurt.

Merlin jumped off the tree. He eyed me and I eyed him back. He had a lanky frame, ears that stuck out and raven black hair. He looked pretty innnocent. But I wasn't sure. All I knew was that he had seen far too much and that I didn't knoe if we could trust him.

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_**A/N I was laughing do hard recounting the moment when I first typed Jacob's initial idea of Merlin with papaya. It's funny. **_

_**Next: Conversation with Merlin on the way to Gwen's house...**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N Hi. I apologise for all the over dramatically long author notes, my co-author tends to ramble on a LOT. But here is the next chapter, I apologise for the delay. Also, I really want to thank everyone bothering to veiw(especially comment) this random fanfiction. It really means a lot. Anyways, here is the next chapter...**_

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**MERLIN POV:**

I eyed my new acquaintances warily, especially Jacob- that was his name wasn't it? He was very strange. So was his companion. But he was even more so. They both seemed to be sorcerers of some sort (not like any I knew), and the accent they spoke with...

He thinks I'm frightened. That's good. But should I trust him?

I ran over to Arthur and tried to pick him up. And fell. The prat was heavy- and badly hurt. He opened his eyes blearily.

'Can you hear me?' I asked. He didn't reply. Knocked out... again. It really was a wonder he was able to get himself injured in so many ways. Sometimes I thought to myself about how miraculous it was that he was still alive. I turned to Jacob.

'You're a sorcerer?' I asked attempting to look fearful.

He just gave me a quizzical look. 'No. I'm peculiar. So is Noor.' He said gesturing at his pretty companion, who was slumped on a horse, watching us.

'Peculiar? That you are. And if you want to stay alive you've got to be less so.' He glanced at Noor. 'Your companion is hurt, we need to get her and Arthur to Gaius, the physician, who also happens to be my guardian. From now on, you'll have to go under the guise of Sir. Jacob and Lady... What's your name again? As far as Uther's concerned, we'll make up some random story. Oh, and you'll also need a place for the night.'

'Lady Noor.' said Noor, but than she became a little hesitant and confused. 'I mean Lady uh... gr-Grey. Yeah'

It seemed like a passable name. And hopefully as soon a they were dressed up more suitably Uther would allow them to stay, if that was what they wanted to do. Or did they want to run away. He actually knew so little about them. He looked over to the pair of them, huddled in deep conversation. They seemed so close...

'Are you married?' I asked out of curiosity. They'd been acting like it after all ever since I'd got to know them.

They looked embarrassed and quickly shook their heads. It must have been a touchy subject.

'Do you want help with him?' Jake asked, signalling to Arthur. I simply nodded. We held onto one arm each and finally managed to hoist him up.

While we were dumping him onto the horse Jake said, 'Must have been scary. Seeing people being hoisted up mid air.'

'It was...' I said, not really paying attention,'Wait, did you say... mid air. What do you mean mid-air?'

'Mid air. Arthur was being attacked mid air.'

'I'm pretty sure there was a monster. With tentacles and everything...' Jake looked at me as if I'd just suggested the earth was a sphere. 'I mean no... there wasn't.' I said quickly... trying to cover up. I would ask Gaius later.

I looked at the faint outline of the castle. It would be a long walk. Looked like the best option was to take them to Gwen's cottage.

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_**A/N Finally finished typing that up! My computer is practically dead now so bye.**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N here is the next chapter. Before we begin, though, over to Shrimpy - **_

_**'I believe this story to be about a peregrine falcon and a merlin bird. I am in a most bamboozled state about why a human would want to read ' twit twit twoo',hence I have reached the conclusion that you have a heat-oppressed brain or you are a bird reading this story, therefore, kindly do not poop on our car.'**_

_**Lol. I know a lot of people don't like author's notes but I can't help it. Unlike papaya who just does wonderfully short concise notes. Please review. We like reviews.**_

_**Also, it may get slightly more difficult to update because of the coronavirus, but I promise we'll try our best. I really don't like it when people take months to update or just suddenly abandon their work and come back to it after years, so that will definitely not happen on this fan fiction. If we need a break, we'll tell you when and for how long. Also, we (and by we I mean I) changed the Merlin setting timeline to season 1 or 2, I'll confirm. And we're pretty sure all pairings will be canon.**_

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**Jacob's POV**

Merlin is odd. He seems to be a frightened servant, and yet he has the guts to risk his head (we're 'sorcerers') to help us. I don't know.

My head was in too much of a befuddled state to make sense of these occurrences.

I shrugged and continued walking. Noor sat on horseback, with Arthur slumped uncomfortably on her shoulder. She grimaced. Merlin led the horse towards the castle, as we clawed through the thicket.

'Why are you helping us?' I asked suddenly.

'What?'

'Why are you helping us?' I repeated.

'I don't know,' Merlin shrugged, 'it's dangerous for those with magic and you saved our lives. I owe you one.' He grinned in what I was starting to recognise as Merlin-ish way.

'Thanks,' I mumbled, rather struck by his generosity.

'Yeah, thank you,' said Noor's voice from behind me, 'but I'd like to confirm. I don't know about magic, but we are peculiar. Y'know, peculiar?'

Merlin frowned, 'Peculiar? I honestly don't get it-'

'Peculiar is another way of saying magical where we're from,' I interrupted hastily. I liked Merlin, but whether he could be trusted with our secret? I wasn't so sure. Were we so far back that peculiars were though of as sorcerers?

I looked at Noor. She was beckoning me to come over. I came over. We both knew we needed to talk.

'Hey, again,' she whispered to me. I smiled back at her.

'So, the hollow.'

'Yeah,' I looked into her beautiful eyes, swimming with curiosity, 'this hollow isn't like the usual ones. It looked different for one... smelled better too,' I chuckled, 'but it spoke back to me... it was like it was controlling me... and it called me a sorcerer too.'

Her eyebrows furrowed, 'that doesn't sound like a very good thing. And everyone's been calling us sorcerers. I wonder if we've gone so far back into the past that that's what we are. Peculiars are sorcerers.'

We said the last sentence together. 'I thought of something similar to that too. Maybe we're descended from sorcerers or something. This whole thing is confusing.'

Noor looked at the prince slumped on her shoulder, 'this guy weighs a ton,' she grunted. We shared a laugh.

'Ahem, we're here,' Merlin coughed.

'Already-' My jaw fell open.

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_**A/N short chapter, sorry. Just my phone was over heating and this seemed like the perfect way to end the chapter. Maybe I'll be able to post another today, if I have time. I also need to revise for our French oral test.**_

_**NEXT: They meet Gwen (I think)**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N here's the next chapter. Please review if you like it. Also, papaya, if you are reading this, for some reason (I'll explain) my texts won't send and I don't know whether they're receive either so, um, I'll try and text from my Mum's phone.**_

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A fiery glow was hugging the horizon, and dusk was drawing near, creating long shadows from the light of the large red sun. The castle seemed to stretch to the clouds. The walls were made of corroded stone, and smooth and rounded towers protruded from the depths, their roofs conical and a dark shade of blue. I had seen castles before, but they were just ruins of ivy and moss and a few stones. This was tall, magnificent, proud, and you didn't have to be an architect to know it was created from hundreds of skilful hands. All in all, it was a beauty.

'If you're all done being surprised, remember you're Lady Grey and Sir Jacob. And you have to act like it. Be arrogant prats who don't appreciate their servants,' Merlin eyed Prince Arthur, 'like him.'

We both looked down at our clothes. They were torn and soiled and utterly our of place.

Merlin grinned, 'I'll take care of the clothes. Oh, and whatever you do, no magic, or else...' he drew a line across his throat.

We both shivered involuntarily.

**Noor's POV**

Merlin rapped smartly on the door of a small cottage, 'Gwen? Are you in?' he asked, opening the door a fraction and ushering us inside.

I couldn't help but feel how medieval the whole place felt. Jake ran his fingers along a wooden table.

A woman came into the room, brushing brown curls out her face. She was pretty (before you kill me, not as pretty as Noor) and her face shone with a simple kindness that made you feel warm and welcome. Even when she wore a simple gown, I could tell that.

'Merlin,' she smiled and embraced him in a quick hug. Her eyes fell on us, 'who are these people?'

I didn't blame us for staring at us. This was probably the modern equivalent of Merlin bringing in a ten ton elephant (okay, maybe an exaggeration).

'This is...' Merlin hesitated for a second, and then lowered his voice, 'Gwen, these two people saved my life. They hail from very far away. An evil sorcerer banished them. Their names are Lady Grey and Sir Jacob, husband and wife.'

'Husband and wife,'Jake and I remarked in unison, immediately moving as far from each other as the small room would permit.

Merlin could have almost face-palmed, 'they're secretly married. I know they don't look, well, aristocratic, but they've been travelling for several days trying to ascertain their whereabouts, and these are the kind of clothes royals where they come from,' he turned to us, 'you can trust Gwen. She's the kindest person in the five kingdoms.' He smiled at her in a fond brotherly way.

Gwen blushed slightly. I just stood there, physically and mentally shaken.

I had to admit, Merlin was an amazing liar. He seemed to have a lot of practise. I would never have guessed that such a clumsy, happy-go-lucky type person could be so cunning. Although, he didn't have to hide that much of the truth. All he had left out was that we were magic.

'Mmm, yeah. She's my...my... w-wife,' Jake said in the most awkward voice. I gave him my best death glare, unsure of whether to laugh or burt into tears. Instead, conveniently, I had a violent coughing fit.

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_**A/N I'm proud. I actually managed to update two days in row. Papaya, I hope you don't mind the edits.**_

_**NEXT: continued conversation with Guinevere...**_


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N So hello. Papaya here, and a big thank you to my best friend who has actually been bothered to update. I'm proud of you, you managed to make the last author's note short, and to anyone who's bothering to read our unnecessary author's notes, please continue commenting! We love comments.**_

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Gwen seemed to be fine with our lie, although I didn't know whether she actually believed it. Me and Jake certainly weren't doing our best to live up to it. I awkwardly smiled and took his hand.

'Yeah we're totally married and everything. Thanks so much for not doubting every single word we've said.' I managed out of my intensely chaotic interior. Jake vigorously nodded his head, a fake smile plastered in his face. I thought Merlin was doing his best not to run out of the room.

'Oh, a secret marriage, how romantic! If there's anything I can help you with please tell me.' Gwen said. I couldn't help but really like her. Anyone else and we'd probably already be out the front door.

'They'll be needing some suitable attire. As you can see, they don't really blend in at their present state...' Merlin said gesturing to our tattered jeans and torn tops.

'Right. I'll try my best. I know Morgana had some old dresses she left by me... if I stitch them up so that they fit you- oh, almost forgot, what's in fashion again? What about your favourite colour? I have some blue cloth, and there was this velvet hood... I can shorten it-'

'I don't really have a preference. Whatever's easiest.' I interrupted, already feeling guilty that we'd imposed so much. She smiled warmly at me.

'Well, extremely sorry if it's not to your taste, but she had this gown, it was quite nice actually, but it should fit you. I don't know... should we try?'

'Yes please.' Merlin and Jake said in unison. I rose a confused eyebrow and then turned to Gwen and asked, 'Why not?'

I went into a small room and Gwen left me with a piece of clothing. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out how to put it on, but eventually I managed. It was actually quite comfortable yet pretty. I decided it would probably be best to wear it.

I casually walked out of the room, and then realised he was staring at me. And then realised he was wearing a tunic. It actually suited him.

'Nice tunic.' I said.

'That's a really nice dress.' He stuttered. I blushed, then realised one of my sleeves were of the shoulder and quickly pulled it up. We stared at each other. For an unnaturally long time. I felt... My heart flutter. Just the tiniest bit. I gulped and ignored the weird sensation.

I looked back at Jake, 'Well, where to now?'

He looked down at his toes. 'I don't know... I'm really sorry for getting you into all this trouble. I-I don't have a clue as to where we are... and as for getting you out of here- I just honestly don't know where to begin. And- and it's not like anyone else knows either. And all these lies... I'm just really sorry...'

I felt rather shocked. 'Jake... this is definitely the most fun I've had in my whole life. I couldn't be anywhere better...' I tentatively reached out to put my hand on his shoulder, 'or with anyone else better...'

He smiled at me gratefully, 'I think Gwen will let us sleep here for the night. And as for after that... we'll always find a way as long as we're together.'

Grinning, I fiddled with my dress. I had meant every single word I'd said. And I think he had too. Glancing out of the window I said 'Oh, and about the husband and wife business, don't think I've forgiven you.'

And we both shared a laugh.

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_**A/N I'm sorry it took long to update. Also to my co-author, I'll write the next chapter, but then leave some to you. Also, I apologise that the last few chapters have been boring, and if it takes long to update, it's because we can't go to school because of the coronavirus and me and my co-author can't text.**_

_**NEXT: An interesting dream!**_


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N Hey there. Here's the next** **chapter**** Please continue reading, otherwise we might discontinue. It's papaya here! Sorry for rambling on. I'm currently pretending to do German homework. Also to my co-author, you can write the next chapter ( our messages aren't working, yes I know I've mentioned it a million times.) Anyway, I won't keep you any longer.**_

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The dream scene:

We were in a dark forest. No- a light forest. Sort of both. And Noor was clutching my arm.  
'So we're here.' She said, 'finally.' I simply nodded, and looked her in the eye. I don't know what she saw but she recoiled the moment her gaze met mine.  
And then the ground shook, and everything went blurry. I was now directly outside a huge castle. And being lifted on to a horse.  
'Take care.' Said a man. Wait- I knew that face. Prince Arthur. That was his name right?  
'We will.' I found myself saying. And I helped Noor onto a space behind me. There was a horse in front of us which Merlin mounted. Wait- Merlin? Where were we going with him?  
'Here goes nothing.' He said looking over his shoulder. And the scene dissolved into a forest. Was it the same forest we'd fallen into?  
'Well, we seem to have reached the right place.' I chuckled. Noor looked around.  
'Not the sort of place you'd expect them to be.'  
Who to be? But I didn't say anything. instead I just smiled. A bit like an idiot.  
'Jake- there's something I have to say,' Noor started.  
I felt my heart picking up speed.  
All of a sudden a voice groaned,'Oh save me the cringe lovebirds.'  
We swivelled around to see Enoch. A very grumpy Enoch.  
I'm sorry what was he doing here? Why was Enoch randomly in this weird loop thingy? This dream was getting weirder by the second.  
'Don't you start laughing. It's not fun being stuck in some miniscule sack for half a day.' He snapped, grumpily brushing straw out of his ruffled hair.  
'Should have known you'd come along for the ride.' Noor said, walking up to him.  
'Wouldn't miss it for anything in the world.' He grinned. They looked at each other for an unnaturally long time.  
I felt myself getting jealous and put a protective arm around Noor's shoulder.  
'The hollows are here.' Said Merlin, jumping of a tree.'I see we've got company.' He said eyeing Enoch.  
Hollows. I should have felt scared, but I didn't. Instead I just laughed good naturedly.  
'Took them long enough.'  
And everything went a bit too black.

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**JAKE POV:**

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I woke up, panting and very, very confused. I looked to my right. Noor had woken up too. She sat up looking at me concerned.

'Not a good sleep?' She asked me. I sat up too, next to her. I shook my head. We were in Gwen's spare bedroom. It was the middle of the night. And I was right next to Noor. The whole thing has been a dream.

'I had a weird dream...'

'Me too. You were there.' She said. I looked at her curiously. 'So was Merlin. And that deadriser guy. You know, your friend,' I was getting a hunch that we had both had a similar dream. 'And there were some hollows-'

'Were you in a forest?' I asked, eyes wide open. She nodded, shocked. We'd had the same dream.

'Do you think it could be prophetic?' She questioned.

'No... Enoch was there... He couldn't be here...' She bit her lip. It was quite possible she was right. We both lay down, Noor snuggling up to me for warmth. It was freezing. I tried to get a good sleep. I knew I wouldn't thank myself if I woke up the next morning feeling tired.

_**A/N Yes I know that the chapter's confusing, but we skipped some time. And yes that was Enoch! I'm not going to spoil anything but carry on reading to find out! I swear me and my co-author are the only ppl reading this, but I don't care. Anyway, bye now!**_


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N Hey guys! It's Merlyn! Please review and don't give up on the story. We're not the type of authors who write only for views and review. We write because we really like doing it, but it is still nice to know that people appreciate it. Please, guys.**_

_**Papaya, check your inbox. I messaged us on my other account. Ya know, I should write a fanfic there sometime. Probably a Merlin one. Or PJO or Sherlock or Harry Potter (and she rambles on. Honestly I have so many more.) Okay, so cause of COVID 19 what we're doing now is writing a couple of chapters each instead of typing up what we've written together. Yeah.**_

**Merlin's POV**

I walked out of Gwen's house. The maidservant was so kind. She let them sleep there for the night. It was practically dusk now. Tomorrow my strange companions would see Gaius, and then our wonderful king, Uther (note the sarcasm).

Arthur had woken up. Honestly, I would be worried if he hadn't. 'How do you feel?' I asked, mounting the horse.

He groaned, 'like I've just spent the night at the tavern. You should be familiar with that.'

Why does he think I spent all my time at the tavern? I've hardly ever been there. 'You know,' I said, 'Sir Jacob saved you life. He slayed the beast.'

He snorted, 'and bet you hid up a tree like a frightened squirrel.'

I didn't reply, just gave the horse a small kick and it set off on a gentle canter.

Arthur let out a soft moan of pain as he righted himself, 'I must personally thank him, whoever he is,' he continued, before pausing, '_Mer_lin, who exactly is Sir Jacob?'

I hated that tone. I hated it very much. I threw my hands up for a second in a surrendering gesture (as long as one can on a horse), 'now, just before you kill me for leaving him at Gwen's...'

I dodged a punch. 'You did _what!_' he exploded. And then of course complained of the pain in his shoulder.

'Okay, okay, before you kill me for leaving another man at the same house as the love of your life-'

I dodged another punch. And promptly fell off the horse.

'_Merlin! _Don't go shouting it out in public. And she is _not _the love of my life!'

'Now who's shouting,' I muttered, scrambling to get up and brushing dust off my shoulders as I steadied the horse, 'let me explain.' I remounted Sir Albert (the horse, before you ask, and no, I did not name him), 'before you got a concussion, we met two strangers. One introduced himself as Sir Jacob and the other as Lady Grey. They hail from a faraway kingdom. An evil sorcerer sent them away into nowhere and they were looking for lodgings and attempting to find out where they were. Then we came across this beast with tentacles _**(A/N Merlin can see the hollows remember). **_Sir Jacob was familiar with the kind of creature and when it attacked he protected you with his sword but the beast got your horse and you were thrown off, knocked unconscious. In the end, Sir Jacob slaughtered the evil beast and we were all saved. Lady Grey was mildly bruised so they will see Gaius tomorrow morning.'

Arthur aimed another light punch. This time I was unsuccessful in my dodging.

'Ow,' I said sulkily, rubbing my neck, 'what was that for?'

'For being an absolute idiot, Merlin,' Arthur sighed, 'we were here ages ago.'

I realized the horse stood about a centimeter from the castle wall, 'ah.'

'And you're paying for the horse we lost.'

'What! How am I meant to pay out of that meager pittance you provide me with, despite the fact I, hmmm, do your chores _and_ save your life?'

'Oh, yes speaking of chores, my armor needs polished, my room needs tidying, my boots need polishing and, oh, someone needs to muck out the stables!' Arthur patted me merrily on the back (with unnecessary force, I believe).

And so we rode into the castle, one bickering arrogant prat and the other a handsome magical prodigy.

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**_A/N Yay! Done! I tried to capture Merlin and Arthur because I hate it when people make characters sometimes so OOC. I dunno. I had a lot of fun writing this. I think I could imagine it happening. I did it as long as possible._**

**_NEXT: Into Gaius' chamber we go..._**


	12. Chapter 12

_**A/N hi, it's Merlyn, for once I have nothing to say cause life has been pretty boring just staying at home. On the plus side, it means more time to update. I have been really lazy so I'm sorry if I'm updating so late. And please follow, review etc. It does mean a lot. Um, yeah.**_

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**Jacob's POV**

Sunlight filtered through the single high window. I blearily opened my eyes and the world swam into view. My back and neck ached from the hard floor. Seriously, they needed to work on the quality _and _quantity in the medieval era big time. I mean, Gwen owns one bed. And a single bed at that. Still, sleeping on a bunch of old sacks wasn't as bad as some places I had slept, and I had Noor now, which was an enormous plus.

Speaking of Noor, where was she? I looked to the crook of my neck where she had been last night. No, she was probably out of bed already doing something useful. I stretched, getting out of bed and casually wandering into a small room, actually the living room- if...you could call it that. Noor and Gwen were both up, talking. I silently debated whether to interrupt them or not.

Too late. Noor had spotted me, grinning...

'So you're finally awake.'

'I'm sorry - I'm a deep sleeper - What's the time?'

'Let's just say, lunch was a while ago... but I've saved some stew for you.'

I smiled gratefully at her, realizing how long it had been since I'd last eaten. She then smiled at Gwen and nodded, as if there was some sort of secret pact between the two of them.

'Jake... we need to talk about a lot of things...'

'Uh- alright?'

'Right... first of all we're not staying at Gwen's any longer. We're going to this guy called Gaius' place. It's where Merlin lives.'

'okay...'

'And,' Noor lowered her voice, speaking quickly, 'Jacob, there's something that's confusing me.'

My heart fluttered slightly when she said my name, 'yes...' She moved closer to me, and her voice quietened even more. She placed a hand on my shoulder. I stared into her eyes. They we serious, concerned.

'If we _are _in medieval times, centuries before William Shakespeare, and it's difficult to understand even the simplest of Shakespearean English... and this is Old English...'

My stomach gave a sickening jolt. I stepped backwards, suddenly wishing I had eaten less of that stew, 'we shouldn't be able to understand them.' I whispered.

'Jake, I think this was meant to happen. Someone wanted us here. Someone who I don't think had good intentions at heart. If I'm stuck here and am supposed to be a so-called 'emancipator of peculiardom'- or so the prophecy states - then maybe that someone is trying to get rid of the emancipators. The prophecy said there are seven of them. But that doesn't explain why we can still understand everyone...'

This was getting way to serious for my liking, 'look, Noor, all we can do right now is try and stay alive. And for that we need to treat your bruises. So we meet this Gaius guy and not only for injuries... to get out of here, we're going to need someone we can trust... with our lives. Someone we're already trusting. Someone we need to get even closer too.'

Her eyes widened, 'Merlin.'

I nodded, 'Trust me, I really do not like the idea. He's a bit too sly to have me comfortable. You saw how easily he lied... but, what other choice do we have?'

'I really think we could trust Gwen too,' she said, her eyes pleading with me.

'Why do you say that?' I asked, and then my brown crinkled in realization, 'oh. _Oh._'

'It's because I already told her.'

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_**A/N rather short chappie, I know. K, that sounds weird. Cliffhanger... how much did Noor tell Gwen? That they had magic? That they were from the future? Or all of it? Idk, that for Papaya to decide.**_

_**I retook the Pottermore quiz (twice) after forever. The first time I got Gryffindor. I was so mad cause that's not me and I always get Slytherin or Ravenclaw. The second time I got Slytherin. The first time my patronus was a wolf. I loves wolves and they are my true spirit animal. The second I got a thestral, and I have very little relation to death so... But it's super super rare so I'm happy. My wand was the same both times. Apparently, the wood was rumoured to be the same that Merlin used. Yeah! Random ik.**_

_**NEXT: Look, guys, I meant to send them to Gaius and then I realized this was the perfect cliffhanger. Don't be mad at me. I promise they will actually go to Gaius in the next chapter. And then Uther. And then they'll meet a certain someone. And then we leave this fic for a bit, cause we both have other fanfictions to write too.**_


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